Carlos Reyes takes electric violin in Napa on heels of Cuban visit

After recording "Live in Cuba," harpist and electric violinist Carlos Reyes is still giving the week-long stay on the island a standing ovation.

For one thing, it's all about the playing, Reyes said.

"Music has no politics or borders," said Reyes, a Contra Costa County resident who passes through Vallejo on Saturday for a headlining gig at Silo's in Napa.

"Live in Cuba" was done in May with an all-girl orchestra, Camerata Romeu. Reyes was in Cuba a week for rehearsal and then a live show.

"It was incredible," Reyes said of his visit, invited by the Cuban Governor and maestro Zenaida Romeu to do the concert "and I decided to record a live CD of it."

Reyes was also awarded the Cuban equivalent of the Grammy, winning Best New International CD for his recording, "Ignite."

A Paraguay native -- "I was a very young boy coming her with my parents to avoid the political climate at the time Reyes put some of his home country's tunes on the new CD.

"It was so beautiful to hear old Paraguayan songs with an orchestra setting," he said. "I felt such an out of body experience through the whole thing. I was so honored by the Cuban people."

Reyes has been to Cuba five times and "each time with a special license," he said. "First, to bring medicine and reach out to kids in music and help musicians with supplies out of my own doings."

Music "is everywhere" in Cuba, Reyes said. "It is a heartbeat you can't ignore or miss. It is a way the people let their cares go and their spirits be free. Their hearts share and give love. Music is blood the Cuban people, an elixir for the hardships

of life."

Americans and Cubans take different directions in approaching music, Reyes said.

"In the states, we come much of the time with music from a materialistic side," he explained. "Not all, but a lot comes from a production point of view. Cuban musicians truly come from giving thanks they get to do what they do."

A well-paid gig in Cuba is $10 a month,

Reyes said.

"But the biggest perk in a gig is getting one or two meals a day out of the deal," he added. "Considering a pack of cheap, crappy guitar strings in Cuba may cost $12 to $15, things are tough for musicians who get $10 a month from a 'hoof' gig."

Still, "people do whatever they need to do to survive and they laugh, love and play no matter what or how little they have," Reyes said. "They struggle to make things better for their children just like we do here."

It's not as if Reyes has seen his Cuban friends for the last time. He's got his eyes on a December date to return and possibly play the Havana Jazz Festival "but that is still in the works," he said.